Group Captain Pankaj Aneja (15975) Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) was commissioned in the Aeronautical Engineering Branch of the IAF in Jan, 1980. The officer is ME (Mechanical) in Air Armament. He has undergone Air Staff Course at Defence Services Staff College. He was commended by AOC-in-C, Maintenance Command in 1991 and by the CAS in 1995. Presently, he is on the posted strength of Air Force Station, Ojhar since 06 Nov 2000.

He took over as Senior Production Engineer in MiG-23 overhaul line when the production line was passing through a difficult phase. The post production aircrafts were experiencing repeated snags on autopilot and avionics systems during test flights and large number of serious structural defects, severely affecting availability of aircraft. He regrouped his team and brought about an appreciable improvement by reducing the air test requirement from over ten to an average of six air tests. With his professional skills, he indigenously developed structural repair schemes and facilitated repair of number of aircraft by the depot team. Under his guidance as Chief of Aircraft, the depot for the first time in the history, not only achieved the task but also ferried out all MiG-23 and MiG-29 aircraft to operating units in the same production year. This was despite the fact that aircraft were inducted late for overhaul and there was shortage of manpower due to augmentation during 'Op Parakram'.

The officer also provided valuable guidance to rectify SM 293 aircraft, which had serious and chronic snag of Revolution Per Minute (RPM) drop since the year 1995. He has also made significant contribution towards fast recovery of 16 MiG-23 aircraft unserviceable due to Main Landing Gear (MLG) beam crack, issue of STI (Special Technical Instructions) on MLG beam, life extension review on MiG-23 aircraft, and fabrication of snow clearance rig.

For his distinguished service of high order, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Group Captain Pankaj Aneja.